About Me

My name is Lauren, I am a high school math teacher, I love shopping, eating, and especially cooking. I also have food allergies.

I haven’t had food allergies all my life, but was diagnosed just after my 28th birthday. After several months of throat and ear infections and consequently several visits to my doctor, she ran a comprehensive allergy panel on me. I admit that I was looking for a reason for my constant sickness, but was shocked at the results. In addition to the common environmental allergens of dust, pollen, grass, cats, and dogs, I also have food allergies. But I love food! How could it be making me sick?! I am allergic to wheat, dairy, eggs, and white fish. This was a list of common allergens in the food allergy world, but also common to my daily meals. How was I going to eliminate them?

I was instantly frustrated, upset, overwhelmed. I went back to my doctor to talk about how this was going to change my life. She told me that I did have to eliminate these foods, and that this challenge would force me to eat a more natural diet of meat and fruits and vegetables and less processed foods. Challenge, it was.

For the first few months, I didn’t really know what to do. I would find a certain food that I could eat, such as potato chips, and overindulge because I was just fixated on the idea that I could actually eat that food. After a few months of trial, many errors, and research, I not only discovered how to eat wheat, dairy, and egg free, but also how to eat in a more healthy and less processed way.

Everyday presents three challenges- breakfast, lunch, and dinner- but I do three things- accept the challenge, laugh in its face, and adapt. It has been a huge lifestyle change, but I now really think about every bite I take. This challenge has made me more conscious about what I put in my mouth and how it affects me. I guess Mom was right when she said “you are what you eat.” I think this applies to everyone, not just those with food allergies. I continue to learn what a healthy lifestyle means to me, with every bite I take. I hope you enjoy this site and see what a healthy lifestyle can mean for you!

You can reach me at balancedforkhealthylife@gmail.com or on Twitter @balancedforkHL

Disclaimer: The thoughts and recipes on this site are my own. Any similarities to previously published work is coincidental and not intentional. I do not try to push any specific ideas, but simply share my own thoughts in this open community. Also, if you would like to reproduce any of the work on this site, please seek author permission.

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7 responses to “About Me”

Lauren: Great to see your name (a neighbor to the north) on the blogroll list for IFBC in New Orleans. My wife and I are registering and planning to attend, as well. We do a food blog based in Florence, SC covering the food, foodies and food culture of our region. We hope to meet you in NOLA. Take care.

Hey Lauren! I saw a link to this on facebook. My sister has Celiac and is being tested for lactose intolerance/ other food allergies right now. I’m gonna pass this along to her. Glad you’ve found ways around the restrictions and hope you’re doing well!

I’ve had food allergies my whole life but when I found out I have Celiac Disease I went through the same thing, where I would just eat a certain food that I knew was safe, even if it wasn’t very healthy! I’m finally starting to get my diet balanced again!

I’ve recently switched my food blog over to be self-hosted which I hope will make it more user-friendly in the future. As a result, if you were following Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen via email, WordPress, or using RSS feeds through Google Reader or some other way, you are no longer subscribed. If you wish to continue receiving future posts from my blog you will need to re-subscribe. Sorry for the inconvenience, Teresa.